1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plate type condenser, and more particularly, to a plate type condenser having a structure in which a condensed liquid refrigerant can be cooled more effectively.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with the ongoing development of electronic technology, electronic equipment is being made into modules which are becoming increasingly smaller and more powerful and thus give off more heat per unit area. Consequently, cooling has become an essential factor that should be considered when electronic equipment is designed or managed. There are many methods, such as heat conduction, natural convection, natural radiation, forced convection, cooling by means of liquid, immersion cooling, and heat pipe, for controlling temperature in electronic equipment. Recently, cooling methods using a capillary pumped loop have been researched.
Among cooling systems which can be applied to electronic equipment, a phase change cooling system usually includes an evaporator for evaporating a liquid refrigerant by causing the refrigerant to absorb heat radiated from a heat source, and a condenser for condensing the gaseous refrigerant by allowing the heat of the gaseous refrigerant to be radiated outward. Here, it is important to the performance of the entire system to maintain the temperature of the refrigerant condensed by the condenser satisfactorily low until the refrigerant returns to the evaporator.
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the exterior of a conventional condenser. As shown in FIG. 1, such a conventional condenser 10 includes a refrigerant tube 11 in which a refrigerant flows and a plurality of thin radiating plates 12 provided around the refrigerant tube 11. Generally, the refrigerant tube 11 is formed by bending a tube of small diameter multiple times in order to increase cooling efficiency. In this conventional condenser 10, when a gaseous refrigerant enters one end and flows through the refrigerant tube 11, heat is radiated outward through the heat radiating plates 12. Thus, the refrigerant is cooled and condensed. The condensed liquid refrigerant is discharged through the other end of the refrigerant tube 11.
However, in a cooling system using the condenser 10 having such a structure, since the condensed liquid refrigerant is not satisfactorily subcooled in the refrigerant tube 11, an additional subcooler for subcooling the liquid refrigerant should be provided, and a reservoir for temporarily containing the liquid refrigerant to discharge uncondensed gas contained in the liquid refrigerant also should be provided. As described above, since a phase change cooling system using the conventional condenser 10 needs a subcooler and a reservoir in addition to the condenser 10, the volume of the cooling system is large. Moreover, it is difficult to install the cooling system in a narrow space in small and compact electronic equipment due to the three-dimensional shape of the condenser 10.
To solve the above problem, plate type condensers which can be easily installed even in a narrow space have been proposed. FIG. 2 shows an example of a conventional plate type condenser. Referring to FIG. 2, a plate type condenser 20 is composed of a casing 21 for defining an inner space with a very small width. A refrigerant inlet 22 for allowing a gaseous refrigerant to flow in is installed at one upper end of the casing 21. A refrigerant outlet 23 for discharging a liquid refrigerant is installed at the opposite lower end of the casing 21. In this plate type condenser 20, a gaseous refrigerant, which flows into the casing 21 through the refrigerant inlet 22, is cooled and condensed by radiating heat through the walls of the casing 21 which are formed of a heat conductive material. The condensed liquid refrigerant is gathered in the lower portion of the casing 21 and discharged through the refrigerant outlet 23. In a cooling system using the above condenser 20, since uncondensed gas contained in the liquid refrigerant can be discharged while the liquid refrigerant is stagnant in the lower portion of the casing 21, a reservoir is not necessary. In addition, since the condenser 20 is very thin, the cooling system can be easily installed in a narrow space.
However, in this conventional plate type condenser 20, heat is conducted from the upper portion of the walls of the casing 21, which is heated by a high temperature gaseous refrigerant flowing in the casing 21, to the lower portion of the walls thereof. Because the casing 21 is formed of a material having an excellent heat conductivity in order to efficiently cool a refrigerant, a problem caused by heat conduction can easily occur. As a result, many conventional cooling systems using the conventional plate type condenser 20 employ a subcooler for cooling a liquid refrigerant discharged from the condenser 20 in order to satisfactorily secure the cooling performance of the system.
To solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a plate type condenser including an adiabatic slit for suppressing heat conduction from the upper portion of a casing to the lower portion thereof in order to satisfactorily cool a condensed liquid refrigerant.
Accordingly, to achieve the above object of the invention, there is provided a plate type condenser including a casing defining an upper space in which a gaseous refrigerant flows and is cooled, a lower space for accommodating a liquid refrigerant into which the gaseous refrigerant is condensed, and a connecting portion through which the upper and lower spaces communicate with each other, the casing substantially having a plate shape; a refrigerant inlet through which the gaseous refrigerant flows into the upper space, the refrigerant inlet being installed at an upper portion of the casing to communicate with the upper space; a refrigerant outlet through which the liquid refrigerant in the lower space is discharged, the refrigerant outlet being installed at a lower portion of the casing to communicate with the lower space; and a first adiabatic slit for separating the walls of the casing between the upper space and the lower space except at the connecting portion, in order to suppress heat conduction from the upper space to the lower space.
Preferably, the upper space is a refrigerant path formed in zig-zag from the refrigerant inlet to the connecting portion or a refrigerant path which winds back and forth from the refrigerant inlet to the connecting portion. A second adiabatic slit for separating the walls of the casing may be formed between at least one pair of adjacent upper and lower portions of the refrigerant path. When the refrigerant path winds back and forth, a plurality of vertical passages may be formed between adjacent upper and lower portions of the refrigerant path substantially in a vertical direction.
Preferably, the refrigerant inlet and the refrigerant outlet are disposed at the same end of the casing, and the connecting portion is disposed near an end of the casing opposite to the end at which the refrigerant inlet and the refrigerant outlet are disposed.
In addition, it is preferable that the first adiabatic slit ascends from one end of the casing toward the connecting portion.
Preferably, a plurality of holes are formed in the connection portion.
According to the present invention, since the first adiabatic slit prevents heat in the upper space from being conducted to the lower space through the walls of the casing, a liquid refrigerant in the lower space can be satisfactorily cooled without using an additional subcooler.